Demon of the Hidden Leaf
by Masamune13
Summary: Taken by Danzo at birth to be a member of ROOT, Naruto is trained to become an emotionless weapon for the village. But when he is given another chance twelve years later, will he be able to overcome his indoctrination and prevail? No longer a One-shot!
1. Prologue: Judgement

**Demon of the Hidden Leaf**

A/N: This is just an idea I've had on my mind for a while. It's a one-shot, but if I get a lot of positive feedback, I may choose to continue it. Please comment on what you think of it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto and will never be mine, so don't sue me since I own nothing!

Remember to Review!

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**Prologue: Judgement**

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, walked down the halls of the Hokage mansion where the Konoha Council meeting was to be held. Two days had passed now since the Kyuubi's attack. Two days since the Bijuu had been sealed into Naruto. Two days since Konoha had lost it's greatest hero. An appointment which had been greeted with such happiness by the village only weeks earlier, now found itself in shock as it attempted to recover from the lost. Even now, Hiruzen wondered how things might've been different if he had arrived sooner to help Minato and Kushina.

Hiruzen walked slowly as he entered into the council chambers and sat down at the table where the rest of the council was at. In respect of his position and title, everyone stood and only took their seats after he had. Seeing that all the members had arrived, Hiruzen called the meeting to order. "This meeting is now in session. I believe the first order of business here should be the matter of Minato's successor as Hokage. Do I have any nominations?"

Silence met the aged leader. His old teammate and advisor, Homura Mitokado, was the first to speak up. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that Konoha is not ready to select a new Hokage. I can't think of a ninja in Minato's generation capable of surpassing him at the moment and to simply place someone in the position out of necessity would make the village look weak and vulnerable." The rest of the shinobi seated nodded their heads in agreement.

"I agree," Hiruzen's other teammate, Koharu Utatane stated. "For now, I believe the best option would be to reinstate Hiruzen as Hokage. He has served us well as our leader in the past and until we find a suitable successor, he should continue to do so. Are there any objections?" When none were heard, everyone looked toward the old man for his response.

The Third breathed deeply into his pipe. "Very well then, I will continue to be Hokage until we find a new leader that truly possesses the Will of Fire and the strength and abilities required of a Hokage." He said, agreeing to the proposal. A sigh of relief was felt throughout the room. One problem was now out of the way and done with.

"I'm glad that we've solved the problem of who will continue to lead the village," A voice from the back of the table spoke up, "The issue of what to do with Konoha's Jinchuriki remains however. I ask you now Hiruzen, what will become of Naruto Uzumaki?"

The aged ninja sighed, knowing that he would have had to confront this issue and man sooner or later. "For now Danzo, I intend to place the boy under my protection until he grows old enough to take care of and think for himself. After that, I will let him choose what his destiny will be in the village, including whether or not to become a shinobi."

A murmur arose from the different members, which Danzo quickly took advantage of. "Bah! You have always been too soft on matters such as these my old friend." He spoke in a firm, commanding voice. "A Jinchuriki is meant to be used as a weapon of the village and should be treated as such. To take matters like this lightly would only be a potential danger and hazard to Konoha!" Several members seated nodded, giving their consent to Danzo.

Hiruzen frowned. "I do not take this matter lightly Danzo and you know I have always had the village's best interests at heart. But I will also not allow Naruto to be misused and abused like he is nothing more than some sort of tool!" He relied angrily, "The Fourth wished for Naruto to be remembered as a hero, and I think I can best honor that wish by granting him the potential to lead his own life where he can make decisions for himself!" A few more members clapped and nodded in approvement, while others still continued to shake their heads and frown.

"Do you really think that is going to happen?" Danzo shot back, "You speak as if you are doing the best thing in the world for him, but I know what will happen in reality." He continued on, in a wise, foreseeing voice. "He will be scorned, rejected, and cast out by society. He will grow up feared and hated by those his age, which will simply cause him to become emotionally damaged and hate and fear those around him. In the process, this will simply heighten the risks and dangers of him loosing control of the Kyuubi and its destructive powers."

"I have already thought up a solution for that." Hiruzen rebutted, "As of now, all shinobi and civilians are forbidden to speak of Naruto's burden to their children and those at Naruto's age. This will allow him to grow up and interact with them without the preconceived fear of knowing what he is."

"Do you really think that will work?" Danzo sneered, "Their parents will simply shove their fears and hatred onto the children's shoulders. Try as you like, but nothing you do can replace the hatred the villagers have for fox and the tragedies that occurred because of it." Then Danzo's eyes narrowed, his voice deepening. "There is a solution to all of this however. Give me the boy. I will put him into ROOT, train him, and make him worthy of containing the strongest of all the Bijuu!"

"I will not allow it!" Hiruzen yelled, "As the Hokage, I use my power to reject this solution and all forms of it!"

"That may be true, but you know if a majority of the Konoha Council sides against the Hokage on a decision, it can be overturned." Danzo retorted matter-of-factly, "I hereby call on the Council to vote on this matter and give their voice on what should be done."

Going around the room, the different members each proceeded to give their opinions. Jonin Commander Shikaku Nara spoke first. "We cannot give into radical solutions at this time when the village must hold true to it's values at all costs. I vote no."

Choza Akimichi spoke next. "I side with you my old friend. I vote no also."

The final member of the trio, Inoichi Yamanaka shook his head. "I am sorry, but I cannot side with you in this decision. I will not risk my clan being hurt any further by the Fox. I vote yes."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded in agreement. "My thoughts mirror Inoichi's exactly. I vote yes as well."

"The hell with both of you!" Tsume Inuzuka yelled angrily, "I ain't gonna be sending off a baby to be one of Danzo's warped little minions! My vote is no!"

"I vote no." Shibi Aburame repeated quietly.

"I believe my answer is obvious." Danzo stated, as his turn came. "I vote yes."

"I am afraid I side with Danzo in this matter Hiruzen." Koharu said sadly. "The risks are just too great I'm afraid. I vote yes."

"I am going to have to disagree on this as well my friend." Homura continued. "I will have to cast my vote as yes."

"Hmph," Hiruzen grunted, "I vote no. With 5 votes yes and 5 votes no, the decision then falls to Fugaku as the tie-breaker." Inside, Hiruzen smiled to himself. In the past, Fugaku had always sided with him on issues such as these. With his support, Naruto would be able to safely grow up in an environment free from Danzo's influence.

"I have heard all of your arguments for and against this plan." The Uchiha clan leader began, "And after hearing all of them I will give my answer on what I believe should be done about the boy. My final vote...is yes."

A stunned silence filled the room. Even though everyone had cast their vote on what they believed should be done, no one had been expecting Fugaku to turn on Hiruzen in the end. A smile broke across Danzo's features. "I see that I appear to have won. In that case, I will be taking the boy immediately to ROOT headquarters." He stated smugly.

"Danzo please!" The Third begged, "He's barely a day old! Don't destroy this boy's life! Minato would've—"

"—Minato is not here. The Council has given it's decision and as such you are required to uphold it. I believe this meeting is concluded then?" he asked. Hiruzen just sat in his seat, unable to speak or move. Seeing he had won, Danzo turned and walked out of the room to collect his new pupil. One by one, the Council members left, a grim look on all of their faces, even the ones who had supported Danzo.

After they'd all left, Hiruzen continued to sit motionless in the dark. A single tear rolled down his wrinkled, old cheek. _'Minato, Kushina, I'm so sorry.' _He thought to himself. _'What have I done?'_

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Years passed. Danzo took the boy as he had said he would and quickly raised him on nothing but ROOT doctrine. He trained him personally, putting him through rigorous courses and exercises even the most hardcore shinobi might frown upon. In time, Naruto grew up becoming strong and devoid of any emotion other than loyalty to his master and his ideals. As his prowess improved, so did his reputation in Konoha and the lands surrounding it. Eventually, they came to call him the Demon of the Hidden Leaf, both for the burden he carried and the ruthlessness in which he performed his missions.

However, very few people knew who he was or what he actually looked liked in reality. Since the villagers were forbidden to speak of Naruto or the Kyuubi to their children, he became something of an icon to them. Some said he was seven feet tall and carried a sword twice his size, while others said that he was simply a successful ninja who was simply misunderstood and rejected by society. All of this simply played into Danzo's hands, who planned to use the reputation of his subordinate to further his own plans for power.

But then, twelve years later, something happened that Danzo did not expect. Hiruzen succeeded in having the Council disband ROOT as an official branch of the ANBU Black Ops. As of now, all of it's members would be reassigned to different positions directly by the Hokage himself. It was because of this new law that Danzo now stood in his base underneath Konoha as a young, blond boy approached him, kneeling on one knee.

"You summoned me, Danzo-sama. What is my next mission?" He asked in an adolescent, monotone voice.

"As of now, the Foundation is being broken up under the order of the Hokage himself." The old shinobi answered, "All ROOT members are being transferred to different assignments suited to their various skills. This includes you Kitsune."

"Then what is my assignment?" The boy, codenamed 'Kitsune', asked again.

Danzo frowned in response. "The Hokage had decided that it would be best if you were sorted into a Genin team from the academy under the direction of a Jounin sensei. You are to go and meet with him after this to receive further instruction on how this will take place. Until the time comes when we take back Konoha under our control, you will treat this like any other mission you have recieved."

"Very well Danzo-sama." The boy nodded, "I will leave at once." As he turned to leave, his leader spoke once more.

"There is one other thing. For this mission you will not be using codenames. Instead you will use your real one."

For the first time, a surprised look came over the blonde's face. "My...real name?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Yes," Danzo replied, "From now on, you will no longer be known as Kitsune. Instead, you will be known by the name you were given at birth, Naruto Uzumaki."

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The Third Hokage sat in his desk, feeling better than he had in years. _'Finally,' _he thought to himself, _'I have a chance to break Naruto free from Danzo's hold! I only hope it isn't too late.' _Just then, the door opened a crack, and the same individual he was just now thinking of walked into his office.

"Naruto!" he said in a happy tone. As he spoke his name, the boy seemed to be caught slightly off guard for a minute, only to return to his emotionless expression moments later. "How are you my boy?"

"I am fine Hokage-same." He responded, "What are your instructions for me concerning my mission?"

"This isn't a mission Naruto." The Third answered in a kind voice, "Being part of a squad is privilege and testament to the skills you have demonstrated in the past. It will be a chance for you to work with others of different abilities and create lifelong friendships in the process." As he spoke these words, Naruto's face remained unchanged. The Third sighed to himself, this was going to be harder than he originally thought. "You will report here tomorrow morning where you will be photographed and your files inserted into the academy records. At noon, you will head to the school where you will be told of who your team will be."

Naruto nodded, understanding his orders. "Where will my quarters be at now that I am no longer part of ROOT?"

"Ah, yes. I've arranged for you to have an apartment nearby. If you would follow me..."

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A few hours later, the two walked into the apartment as the Third opened the door, coughing as dust flew out. "It is a bit dusty, but it has all the essentials you will need and with a bit of spit shine I'm sure you could clean up the old place." He said in an encouraging tone.

"What is 'spit shine'?"

Hiruzen sweatdropped in response. _'This might take a while.' _Smiling quickly, he brushed off the comment. "It doesn't matter. Just tidy up the place as you see fit, get plenty of rest, and remember to report to my office tommorrow morning. That is all for now." With those remarks, he turned and walked outside, praying that his plan would be a success.

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The day just would not seem to end for the old man however. As night fell, Hiruzen received a report that one of the instructors at the academy, Mizuki, had stolen the Scroll of Seals and was now trying to escape the village with it. The Third quickly ordered all available ninjas to pursue him and retrieve the Scroll at all costs. If it fell into the wrong hands, it could mean disaster for the village.

One ninja in particular had been chasing after Mizuki relentlessly throughout the night. Iruka Umino had been friends with Mizuki since childhood and was now determined to get an answer for why he was doing this. As he jumped through the trees, he saw his old friend come into sight. "Mizuki!" he yelled, "Stop!" To his surprise, the ninja did as he turned around to face him.

"Oh, it's you Iruka. Don't tell me _you_ were actually planning on stopping me." The silver haired ninja sneered.

"Why are you doing this?" Iruka asked angrily, "You've betrayed your friends and your village! Don't you realize the consequences for what you've done could have you imprisoned or worse?"

Mizuki just shook his head in response. "Iruka you fool, I've known all along what it is I'm doing. I've been planning it for sometime and soon this Scroll will belong to my master. I don't care about this stupid village or it's traditions. All I want is power and before long I will have it now!" With those remarks, he quickly pulled out a kunai which he threw directly at his former friend. The weapon buried itself in his chest as it's victim looked down.

Iruka then began speaking. "When I heard you'd stolen the Scroll of Seals, I couldn't believe it. Now that I've seen it for myself, I guess I have no choice but to take you down." Suddenly, Iruka vanished in a poof of smoke, a wooden stump taking his place instead.

'_Substitution!'_ Mizuki realized, _'Then where is—' _He jumped aside a moment later as a huge shuriken came racing towards him from behind. "Not bad Iruka," The shinobi congratulated, "I've gotta give you credit for coming prepared. Now I can take you on with my full strength."

"Just try it!" Iruka shot back, as he jumped forward and stabbed with his kunai. Mizuki dodged and threw several small shuriken in response, forcing his opponent to backpedal away from him. Then, pulling the kunai out from the stump and another from his pocket, he charged forward blitzing Iruka with a flurry of blades. The Konoha ninja tried to block them, only to find that he was quickly outmatched. After being slashed several times, he threw a out a smoke bomb, giving him time to jump to the ground floor.

"It's no use," Iruka said to himself panting, "He's way stronger than I am. I have to hold out until backup arrives." He had no time to catch his breath however, as a kunai quickly flew pass his ear, nicking it in the process. _'Whew, that was a close one.' _The Chunin thought to himself. However, Iruka then heard a strangely familiar noise behind him. Realizing what it was, he jumped backwards a second too late, getting caught in the explosion that followed. The ninja fell to the ground burnt and beat up as his enemy jumped down to face him.

"A good try Iruka, but in the end not good enough." Mizuki taunted as he raised his kunai to end Iruka's life. As the teacher braced himself for death however, he realized seconds later that he was still alive. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see a sword imbedded in his opponents chest from behind. He fell forward, landing next to Iruka as blood poured from the wound in his chest. But the Chunin's eyes weren't focused on Mizuki. Instead, they were focused on his rescuer standing in front of him.

It was a young blond shinobi, about the age of one of his students, wearing a Konoha forehead protector and a strange uniform he had never seen before. He was carrying a sword in his hand, which Iruka immediately classified as a wakizashi. But his most striking feature was his face. It was devoid of any expression at all for what had just happened and was complemented by three strange whisker marks on either sides of his cheeks.

At that moment, Iruka realized the boy was speaking to him. "Are you all right?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"Ye-yes, I'm fine." Iruka answered, "But, Mizuki is he—"

"—dead? No, I missed his vital organs on purpose so that he could be properly interrogated by ANBU."

"But—what are you doing here?" Iruka asked in a concerned voice, "You're too young to be out doing this sort of work. You could've been killed!"

"I doubt it." The boy replied, "This man was quite weak in terms of Chunin standards. It's highly unlikely that he would be able to beat me."

At that moment, several shinobi arrived on the scene. A man wearing an ANBU Dog mask came forward and approached Iruka. "What happened here?" he questioned in a commanding voice.

"I tried to stop Mizuki on my own, but was unable to do so." Iruka explained. "I would've been killed if our young friend here hadn't intervened."

"And what exactly _are_ you doing here?" The man asked the boy in a suspicious tone.

"The Hokage requested all available ninjas to pursue Mizuki and retrieve him at all costs. I followed his orders and retrieved him as commanded." The boy answered, his expression unchanged.

"Hmph," The ANBU snorted, "Well, you can leave now. Your help is no longer required."

"As you wish." Then, with a blur he was gone.

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Later in the night, Iruka sat in the Hokage's office going over what had happened. Mizuki was currently being held by the ANBU interrogation squad who were investigating what he knew. The Scroll of Seals had been safely returned and was now under heavy guard. But none of these things mattered to Iruka at the moment, since his questions were focused on another topic entirely.

"Hokage-same," Iruka began, "Who was that boy? He wasn't a member of any class in the academy that I know of, yet he clearly was well-trained as a ninja."

"The boy in question is Naruto Uzumaki." The Third explained, "As for why you did not know who he was or who taught him, it was because he was raised and trained by ROOT."

"ROOT?" Iruka repeated, "Well that would explain things, but shouldn't he be on some top secret mission or something?"

"On the contrary, he is the new transfer student being assigned to your class."

Iruka jawdropped, "WHAT? That boy was able to take out Mizuki with ease and you want to put him on a team of untrained Genins? What on earth would make you want to do this?"

A sad look crossed Hiruzen's face, "It is because he is the container of the Kyuubi Kitsune."

Iruka's jaw fell even lower, as an angry look crossed his face. "I don't believe this! When were you planning on telling me that two of my students would be grouped with a monster? I will not allow sir! It's far too dangerous!"

"Iruka," the Third interjected, "I wish to tell you something. Did you know that before the Yondaime died, he wished for Naruto to be remembered as a hero by the village? I tried to honor his wishes, but instead I allowed for him to be taken by Danzo and be turned into his mindless servant. The reason I am doing this is because I am trying to give the Naruto the chance he deserves to become his own person and rule his own life. Is it really wrong to want to give a boy a second chance who was innocent of any wrongdoing in the first place?"

A silence filled the office. Iruka bowed his head forward, ashamed of what he had said earlier. "I am sorry Hokage-sama. I spoke out of turn. I see now the reasons why you are doing this and it was wrong of me to think I knew better. Please forgive me." He apologized.

"It is all right Iruka. You're reaction simply shows how much you care for you're students well-being." Hiruzen told him kindly as he smoked on his pipe, "I have set the pieces in motion and now we must simply wait and watch for what the future will bring." At that moment, a knock was heard on the door. "Come in." The Third called out.

Inside walked Ibiki Morino, the head of ANBU's Interrogation and Torture Force. He bowed respectfully before speaking, "I have come to report on the information we have gained from Mizuki, Hokage-sama."

"Very good." The elderly man replied, "Iruka, I belive it is time you went home and got some rest. You have a big day tommorow and will need to be ready for it."

"Right." Iruka nodded, getting the hint. "Thank you again for everything you've told me. It's given me a lot to think on." With that, the academy instructor turned and walked out of the office closing the door behind him. Seeing that they were alone, the Third motioned for Ibiki to speak.

"We extracted the information from Mizuki rather easily with the help of the Yamanaka clan." Ibiki reported, "What we found was disturbing however. It appears that he was working to bring the Scroll back to Orochimaru."

The Hokage's eyes widened. "Did you discover any hint of where he might be located at?"

"No," Ibiki answered, shaking his head. "He covered his tracks too well for that. I'm afraid we were unable to gain anything else."

Hiruzen sighed, "Very well then. Please continue to try and gather what information you can from Mizuki. You are dismissed." Ibiki bowed once more before turning to leave the office. As he left, the old teacher pondered on what his former student was up to. Whatever it was, he was positive that it would not be anything good for Konohagakure.

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	2. Team 7

**Demon of the Hidden Leaf**

A/N: Okay, I have decided I will continue on with this fic for now. However, I don't yet know what my policy on updating will be. My first and foremost concern is my other fic 'Grinnin' Jedi' and that will continue to be my main priority for the moment. If you like Gin Ichimaru or Star Wars feel free to check it out.

A/N: I've decided the pairing for this story will be NaruSaku. It is my favorite pairing and the most logical one I think for the actual Naruto as well. I'm unsure at the moment as to what other pairings I might include besides this one.

A/N: For now, I will be following the basic storyline for Naruto with my own twist on things. Since Naruto is currently an emotionless weapon of Danzo, his outlook and take on different things will be very different from the normal ninja we all know and love. This will therefore cause many different reactions and perceptions of him by other characters.

_'thinking'_

**'Inner Sakura'**

Remember to Review!

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**Chapter 1: Team 7**

The next morning, Naruto walked into the office on time where the photographer was waiting. "You the kid whose getting his picture taken?" the man asked in a gruff voice.

"Yes."

"Okay then, let's head to the rooftop. Follow me." The two walked to the area where the photographer began setting up his equipment. Naruto sat across on a seat, expressionless as usual. The man went to his camera, getting ready to take the shot. "All right kid, now how about a big smile for the picture?" he asked in fake, encouraging tone.

When the boy's face did not change at all, the man just sighed to himself. "Whatever, it's your photo after all." Then with a click and a poof it was done.

An hour later, the Third looked at the same picture as Naruto stood across from him once more in the academy. While he would have preferred a little more expression, he supposed as long as the boy could be clearly identified and did not look like something out a freak show, it would be fine. "Well Naruto," he began, "That is all for now. You will have the next few hours to yourself before you report back here. Feel free to do whatever you wish."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Naruto said respectfully as he turned to leave for the door. At that moment however, a small child came charging into the room.

"Old man! I challenge you!" he yelled as he prepared to throw a shuriken in his hand. Seeing this, Naruto put a hand on his wakizashi preparing to dispatch of the attacker if needed. "I'm going to defeat you and become the Fifth Hokage!" Before he could say anything more however, he tripped on the blue scarf hanging around his neck faceplanting into the ground. The boy covered his face, crying into his hands because of the pain he felt.

A puzzled Naruto turned toward the Third. "Hokage-sama, is this some sort of...assassination attempt?" He inquired, sounding confused.

The old man simply shook his head. "No, this actually happens to be my grandson Konohamaru. He can sometimes be a bit of a headache."

An even more puzzled look came over Naruto. "So, you allow your grandson to try and assassinate you?"

A man then burst into the room wearing dark sunglasses. "Honorable grandson! Are you all right?" he asked in a frantic voice.

"No!" Konohamaru protested, "Something tripped me!" He then looked over to where Naruto was. "It was you! You're the one that did it!" he exclaimed pointing.

"No, I did not." Naruto replied calmly. "When you ran in here you tripped over that long scarf you were wearing. If you're going to kill someone it is best to dress accordingly." He then turned his attention back to the Third. "Hokage-sama, I will be going now. Thank you for your time." After bowing respectfully, he turned to leave the room, only to find his exit blocked by Konohamaru.

"Don't ignore me!" He yelled angrily, "I'm the grandson of the Third Hokage and the future Fifth Hokage! Fight me!"

"No." Naruto answered curtly. Taking a kunai from his pocket, he threw it at Konohamaru's scarf, pinning it to the wall. With that, he walked out of the room as Konohamaru attempted to chase after him, only to find he could not move due to Naruto's actions.

Taking the kunai out of the scarf, Ebisu, the man in sunglasses turned to the young boy. "Listen carefully, you are the honorable grandson of the honorable Sandaime Hokage-sama. Do not let rabble like that draw you into a fight even if they do deserve it. It would only cause you to stoop to level." He then looked away, as he began speaking in a glorified tone. "But as your elite ninja trainer, I am far above any other instructor in Konoha! With my instruction, you could become the Fifth Hokage in no time thanks to my skills and abilities, just as long as you stay close to me of course. You understand honorable grandson?"

When he looked back however, Konohamaru was no where to be found. "Ahhhhh! Where did he go this time?" he exclaimed as he began looking around in every direction.

"I believe he followed Naruto." The Third informed him. "I don't have any idea where they went though." Hearing this, Ebisu ran out the doorway at high speeds.

"Nooooo! He's with Naruto? Honorable grandson, hang on I'm coming!

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Meanwhile, Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha followed by Konohamaru who attempted to remain hidden through a variety of pathetic disguises. Eventually, Naruto turned around to face the boy who was hiding next to a fence with a similarly colored sheet covering him. "What do you want?" He asked in a stern voice.

Konohamaru pulled down his disguise with a grin. "Saw through my disguise huh? The rumors about you were true! You're good!" He then walked up to the older boy and pointed to him. "All right, from now on I'll be your apprentice and you'll be my trainer!"

"No." With that remark, Naruto turned and continued walking.

Konohamaru jawdropped. "He-hey! You can't just shove me off like that! I'm the grandson of the Sandaime!" A grin then came across his face as a plan formed in his mind. _'I know! I'll just wear him down with constant pleading! It works every time!' _He then chased after Naruto again. "Train me!" he yelled.

"No."

"Train me!"

"No."

Three hours later...

"Train...me." Konohamaru panted out of breath, collapsing to the ground.

"No."

'_It's no use. This guy is hardcore.' _Konohamaru thought to himself. _'Even after all that pleading, he still won't budge an inch. What is he?' _Getting up, he walked after Naruto one more time. "Okay!" he yelled, "You win! I won't ask to be your apprentice anymore!" As the boy said these words, a few tears rolled down his cheeks, causing Naruto to pause mid-step. "All I ever wanted was to become strong enough so that people would respect me for what I've done and not my grandpa! Then, I could become a famous ninja on my own and not because of anyone else!"

"If you want to become strong, then do these things." Naruto started speaking, "Face forward and abandon that which makes you weak. Train and harden yourself so that even the strongest techniques will not stop you. Finally, never lose sight of your goals and work to achieve them by any means necessary. That is what it means to be strong." A brief silence followed, as Konohamaru absorbed what he'd been told.

The silence was interrupted a moment later however, as Ebisu jumped into the clearing. "At last! I finally found you honorable grandson!" He exclaimed happily. He then turned to Naruto, an enraged look on his face. "And you! Do you know how long of a chase you led me on? If you think you can get away from this without any retribution, then you're sadly mistaken!" As Naruto turned to leave, Ebisu jumped in front of him.

"Get out of my way." Naruto responded darkly. "I need to get back to the academy."

"Ha! I'm afraid you can't just tell me to get out of the way and expect I will do so. I am a Jonin, one of the village's elite ninja and there's nothing—" The Jonin was cut off midsentence as Naruto's foot came up, hitting him in the place where it counts with a sickening crunch.

"GAAAAHHHHH!" Ebisu screamed out as he fell to the ground, experiencing pain like he never had before. "How dare you! Mark my words, I will have my revenge on you someday Naruto Uzumaki! There is no forgiving what you've done here!" He yelled after the boy as he withered in agony on the ground.

As he walked away, Konohamaru looked after him, contemplating what had been said. Then he shouted, "Just you watch, I'm going to be the strongest Hokage the world has ever seen and someday I'll beat you too!" With that declaration, the boy ran off to train empowered by his new motivation.

"Wa-wait! Honorable grandson! Konohamaru! Don't leave me here! Call a relief squad, get a medic, do something! Somebody help meeeeeee!"

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Sakura Haruno walked out of her house, fixing the headband in her hair as she traveled to the academy. _'Today I'm no longer a little academy student.' _she thought to herself. _'I'm Sakura Haruno kuinoichi in training!' _As she moved down the street, she spotted a blond she was not interested in seeing at the moment.

"Good morning Sakura." Ino Yamanaka greeted curtly.

"Good morning Ino." Sakura replied in the same tone. She continued walking as Ino pulled up beside her.

"So they actually let _you_ graduate?" Ino asked mockingly. "What a surprise."

"Those classes are ancient history." Sakura shot back. "We're both ninja now and we're both equal. I won't lose to you anymore!" She then walked slightly faster, picking up her pace so she moved ahead of the other girl. Ino retaliated by picking up hers as well. Soon they were both running, determined to be the victor over the other. They eventually stumbled into the academy room at the same time with both exclaiming, "I'm first!" to the other. As they begun arguing over who was the winner, a lazy looking boy seated next to them sighed.

"Can't you too quit fighting for one minute?" he groaned in protest. "It's such a drag having to listen to you both bicker all the time."

"CAN IT SHIKAMARU!" The two rivals yelled simultaneously before glaring at each other with lightning in their eyes.

"Why me?" Shikamaru Nara asked looking up. As he said these words, a large boy eating a bag of potato chips came up and sat next to him.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Choji Akimichi said to his best friend in between bites. "Did you hear the latest story about the Demon?"

"Not again." Shikamaru complained. "I'm telling you man, he's a myth. Not real at all." Sakura and Ino immediately took notice however, quickly rushing up to Choji.

"What is it?" They both asked getting up in his face. "Tell us now!"

Backing away a bit, Choji began speaking in a low tone. "Well, I heard that on his latest adventure, he was tracking down an S-class shinobi bent on killing the Hokage himself." Sakura and Ino gaped in amazement. "But just as the criminal prepared to make his move, he caught him right in the act. The assassin escaped, but the Demon chased him all over the village giving him no rest. Eventually, he caught up with him and they fought a huge battle with blood and gore everywhere. The Demon won of course, but instead of killing the assassin, he chose to permanently cripple him for his crimes, destroying his career as a ninja forever."

Sakura and Ino dreamed up their mystery man with stars in their eyes. "He's so manly." Sakura imagined, seeing in her mind a strong buff warrior coated in battle scars holding her in his arms.

"Almost as manly as Sasuke-kun." Ino said dreamily, lost in her own fantasy.

"Almost," Sakura agreed. "Nobody will ever beat Sasuke-kun and that's why soon he'll be mine!"

"No, he'll be mine!"

"Why would he ever be interested in you Ino-pig?"

"Well, why would he be interested in someone with a huge forehead like yours?"

"Take that back!" Sakura yelled, as she and Ino began fighting once more.

Just as the two girls were about to enter mortal combat, Sakura noticed out of the corner of his eye a blonde boy she had never seen before enter the classroom. He was dressed in a strange uniform and carried a short sword on his back. He appeared to be their age and wore a forehead protector, yet Sakura could not ever recall seeing him before now. "Hey Ino, have you ever seen that guy before?" she asked pointing.

Ino squinted, trying to get a good look at him. "Nope, I've never seen him. Who is he?"

"I don't know, but there's something...off about him." Shikamaru responded to their conversation, trying to guess who he was. "Oh no, what's _he_ doing now?"

The girls and Shikamaru weren't the only one that had taken notice of the newcomer. Walking up to him, a raven haired boy stood next to the boy's desk. "I've never seen you around here before. Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked in a suspicious tone.

"That's none of your business." The boy replied in a monotone voice, turning away from him.

A somewhat shocked look came over the first boy's face. "Do you have any idea who I am?" The boy challenged in an angry voice, "I am Sasuke Uchiha, the Rookie of the Year!"

"I really don't care."

A smile spread across Sasuke's face. "Really, well what would you say to a little sparring contest between you and me right now?"

"Not interested."

"Aww, what's wrong scaredy-cat? Are you afraid?" Sasuke goaded, trying to provoke a reaction. To his surprise, this time the boy got up and placed a hand on his sword and prepared to unsheathe it. The entire class watched in amazement as the newcomer prepared to go toe-to-toe with Sasuke showing zero fear or emotion whatsoever. Before they could begin however, Iruka walked into the classroom.

"Everyone please take your seats!" he ordered in a loud voice. With one last glare towards his new rival, Sasuke walked back over to where he'd been sitting to hear their teacher's announcement.

Shikamaru breathed out a sigh of relief which Sakura took note of. "Are you okay Shikamaru? I don't think Sasuke would actually have hurt that guy too badly if they'd continued their fight."

An astonished look came over Shikamaru's face in response. "You mean you couldn't tell?"

"Tell what?" She asked, sounding confused.

A disturbed look and shiver came over Shikamaru's face. "When that guy got up, I felt a wave of killer intent come from him like I've never seen before. If they had fought, I'm 100% sure that Sasuke would've died." He explained in an ominous voice.

"Wha-what? Don't be ridiculous! Sasuke-kun could never get beaten by that guy!" Sakura protested. _'He couldn't really be stronger than Sasuke-kun could he?'_

"Believe what you want, but I know what I saw." Shikamari replied.

Before they could discuss the matter further, Iruka began speaking. "As of today you are all ninjas. You've faced difficult trials and hardships, but that's nothing." The instructor stated. "What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only Genin, first level ninjas. All the Genin will be placed into three-man squads each under the leadership of a Jonin, an elite ninja."

'_A three man squad?' _Sakura thought to herself. Ino, who was sitting behind her, giggled to herself. "Well someone's got to be in Sasuke's squad. I wonder who it will be?" She told Sakura.

"I don't know." Sakura retorted. **'Shannaro! I'm gonna be with Sasuke so stay away from him you hag!' **Inner Sakura yelled from within her mind.

Iruka continued. "We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads." The Chunin read through the list, naming off each team's members. Finally, he came to lucky number seven. "Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki." As Sakura cheered for being paired with Sasuke, the same individual glared over once again to his other teammate. Naruto simply stared back with cold, lifeless eyes.

(All the other teams are the same as in the series, so I'm not going to go over them.)

Eventually, Iruka finished listing off all the different squads. "Now, after lunch you'll meet you're Jonin teachers. Until then class dismissed."

As everyone began walking outside, Sakura ran up next to Sasuke. "Umm, Sasuke-kun? Would you like to have some lunch with me so we can get to know each other better?" She asked hopefully.

"No." Her crush replied, sending her dreams of a romantic afternoon down in flames. She then remembered her other teammate, Naruto. _'Where was he?' _She looked around and noted that he wasn't outside with everyone else. She wandered back into the classroom to see that he was still sitting in his seat with his eyes closed. She walked over, sitting down next to him.

"Um, Naruto? You know it's time for lunch right?"

"I'm aware." He answered, his eyes still shut.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Sakura inquired in a concerned tone.

"I don't have anything, so no."

"Oh," Sakura answered, looking down at the homemade lunch her mother had specially prepared for her. "Well, you could share some of mine I suppose." At this remark, Naruto's eyes snapped open.

"Why would you offer me something of yours when there is no guarentee that you will recieve anything in return?" He questioned in a suspicious voice.

A vein began throbbing in Sakura's forehead. "I'm just trying to be friendly you baka! Is there something wrong with that?"

A softened look appeared to come over Naruto. "I apologize. I'm just not used to people being so...kind all the time."

Sakura noted that Naruto's voice sounded strained as he spoke, almost as if it hadn't been used for ages. "Well, maybe you just haven't met a lot of friendly people in the past. We're teammates now so we have to look out for each other right?" She said kindly while handing him a rice ball. "You can pay me back later okay?"

"Okay." Naruto repeated as he began eating.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hours later after lunch, Team 7 still sat in their seats awaiting the arrival of their sensei. Both Sasuke and Sakura were getting quite annoyed with the delay and were beginning to wonder if they were wasting their time here. The only one that didn't seem affected was Naruto who sat calmly with his eyes closed. Eventually, a person was heard walking up outside and in walked a silver-haired man whose headband was hanging over his eye.

"Hi there!" He greeted with a wave, "Sorry about my being late and all, but there was this little old lady that was carrying a huge stack of groceries and I just had to help her get them all home."

'_Is this guy for real?' _Sakura thought to herself. She looked at her teacher up and down. _'He doesn't look that impressive.'_

"Well, I'm here now though, so if you'd all follow me up to the roof we can get started." The silver-haired man instructed, motioning for them to follow. Upon arriving, he then turned to his three students. "Well now, why don't you all introduce yourselves."

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura repeated. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"

"The things you like, the things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies things like that." Their sensei explained.

"Well, maybe you could start us off by telling us some things about you sensei so we know how it works?" Sakura asked politely.

"About me? Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake." At this revelation, Naruto momentarily perked up despite it going unnoticed by his teammates. "As for my likes and dislikes, well, I don't really feel like telling you right now. My dreams for the future, never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies. Now it's your turn. You on the left start." He said pointing to Sakura.

"I'm Sakura Haruno! What I like—I mean the person I like is—uh." She began giggling uncontrollably. "Well my hobby is—I mean my dream for the future is—"Once more she began giggling, burying her face in her hands.

"And um, what do you hate?" Kakashi interjected.

"Ino Yamanaka!" Sakura exclaimed as her happy expression turned into one of rage. "Someday I'm gonna beat that hag into the ground and take her down a few knotches! Then everyone will see who the real top kuinoichi is!"

"Okay," Kakashi said, wanting to move on. "Now you in the middle."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone." He answered in a dark tone.

'_Just as I thought_.' Kakashi confirmed to himself. "Last but not least, our quiet friend there on the right."

After a brief pause, Naruto began speaking. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes, dislikes, and hobbies are not your concern. I have no dreams to speak of."

"Well, thank you for that wonderful insight into your life Naruto." Kakashi said nodding. "Good, you're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"So, what kind of mission will it be?" Sakura inquired.

"A survival exercise that the four of us will do together." Kakashi answered.

Sakura frowned. "But shouldn't we have a real mission? We already did that sort of thing back when we were in the academy." She protested. "That's why we're here now as Genin."

"Actually, you're not Genin quite yet." Kakashi informed her. "Out of the twenty-seven graduates who just came here, only nine in total will advance on to the rank of Genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a break it or make it pass-fail test and your chances of failing are at least 66%."

"Then what was the point of the graduation exam in the first place?" Sakura asked angrily.

"Oh, that was just a test to find candidates who _might_ end up becoming Genin. In the end I will be the one who decides whether or not we pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot tomorrow at 5:00 AM and bring your ninja gear. That's it, you're dismissed." Kakashi finished as he turned to leave. "Oh, and one more thing. Tommorrow, don't eat any breakfast tomorrow because if you do, you'll puke." With that last remark, the Jonin disappeared with a blur leaving his students by themselves.

Sakura turned to her teammates after their teacher had left, something obviously on her mind. "Hey uh, maybe we should talk a bit about what we're going to do tommorrow. You know, so we can do better as a team on the test."

"What's the point?" Sasuke retorted, "We don't know what's going to happen, so we'll just be better off on our own. You two would just slow me down anyway." With that, the Uchiha heir left the roof heading towards his home.

Looking crestfallen, Sakura turned to where Naruto was. "Naruto, do you—" she began, only to see that her other teammate had dissapeared. Sighing, Sakura trekked home deciding she might as well get plenty of rest for tomorrow. She soon arrived at her house, opening the door. "Mom!" she yelled. "I'm home!"

"Sakura!" her mother greeted happily, coming into view. "How was your first day as a ninja?"

"Terrific." Sakura answered, her mouth full of sarcasm. "We each got sorted into three man squads with a Jonin sensei and mine's a real piece of work. I have one last test tommorow at 5:00 AM so I'll probably be gone most of the morning."

"Okay, thanks for telling me. Did you happen to get on the same team as that Uchiha boy you're always going on about?"

"Shannaro! You bet I did!" Sakura exclaimed joyfully in an ear-splitting voice.

"That's great! So who was your other one?" Her mother asked with a smile.

"Oh, it's this boy named Naruto. It's really weird because I've never seen him before today. He's really quiet, but he doesn't seem that bad although he did almost get into a fight with Sasuke in class." Sakura reiterated. The kuinoichi noticed then, just for a moment, that her mother's smile had faltered upon hearing Naruto's name. As she lay in bed that night, she wondered more about who her mysterious teammate was . _'Naruto, who exactly are you?'_

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, the three ninjas in training all met at the training area at 5:00 AM as ordered. Their sensei however, did not arrive until several hours later in the morning. He jumped down in front of them, his expression hidden beneath his mask. "Morning everyone, ready for your first day?"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura yelled in an enraged tone.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around." Kakashi answered his furious student. "Well, let's get started then." Walking over to a tree stump, he set down an alarm clock and pressed the button on top. "It's now set for noon. Your assignment is simple. Take these bells away from me before then." Taking out the two objects, he dangled them out for his pupils to see. "If you can't get them by noon, you get no lunch and one of you gets tied to that stump over there while I eat lunch in front of you."

A realization then came over Sakura. "Wait a minute! There are only two bells! How are we all supposed to pass?"

"You don't. One of you will get tied to the post in the end and that person will also fail. Either way one of you will be sent back to the academy, although all three of you could end up flunking as well." Kakashi explained, "You can use any weapons including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to get the bells."

"But those weapons are too dangerous sensei!" Sakura pointed out. "You could get killed!"

"Don't worry," Kakashi responded with a playful wave. "I will be quite fine. Now, when I say start you may begin. Get ready...and start!" With those magic words, Sasuke and Sakura both jumped off into the foliage to find a hiding spot, while Naruto remained where he was. _'Hmm,' _Kakashi thought to himself. _'He hasn't run off to find a hiding spot like the others, so he must have something already planned. Let's see if I can find out what it is.' _

Pulling out a small orange book, Kakashi began reading as he spoke to Naruto. "Any particular reason why you haven't run off like the others Naruto? I would think someone of your reputation would know the importance of stealth and surprise. You won't be able to get the bells standing there like that."

"I am aware of this Kakashi-sensei." Naruto stated, "I simply wished to clarify one thing. You said any weapons were allowed for this test. Does that include ninja techniques and jutsu as well?"

"Of course. It wouldn't be much of an exam without them. Do whatever you like Naruto."

"I see." Naruto said nodding, "Thank you Kakashi-sensei, I will not waste anymore time then." With that remark, Naruto pulled out a kunai, and with a quick flip of his wrist stabbed it directly into his chest.

XXXXXXXXXX

**Next Chapter: Pass or Fail**


	3. Pass or Fail

**Demon of the Hidden Leaf**

A/N: For those of you who have not looked into my other story, I have decided that my system for updating at the moment will be by switching from one story to the next each following week. I will try to stay consistent in this, though it may be delayed at some points (I can be very lazy at times. Shikamaru would be proud.), but hopefully that will not happen.

A/N: A thanks to R. Uchiha-Namikaze, malefan, DEATHinPINK94, JoKeR808, Twinitech 2, Goddess of Night Eternal faith, dbzgtfan2004, tennisdesi91, eternal-ni6, Gundam27, and mushuxlll for reviewing! I do appreciate the feedback and will try to respond to them frequently. It really does help me write better when I can hear what people think of my work, so please remember to review whether it be positive or negative. Anything helps!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and never will. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and he will continue to do a better job with his series than I could ever hope to. I'm simply writing this fanfic for fun and to keep my writing skills in shape.

_'thinking'_

**'Inner Sakura'**

REMEMBER TO REVIEW!

**Chapter 2: Pass or Fail**

Kakashi looked on with interest as the young shinobi stabbed his weapon into himself. The boy vanished in a puff of smoke a second later. _'So,' _he thought to himself. _'He used the kage bunshin to gather information on the test. I didn't see him leave when I was talking to the three of them however. That means he had the bunshin in place from the beginning. So, what has the original been doing all this time?'_

From his hiding spot in the trees nearby, Sasuke frowned at the turn of events. _'What the hell? Was that a kage bunshin? How would he know a high level technique like that?' _Then he heard a small thump from behind him. He turned to see what it was, only to find himself jumping away be reflex moments later.

KA-BOOM!

The explosion rippled throughout the area. Sasuke held his hand up to his face to protect it from the scattering embers. _'An explosive tag? Was this Kakashi's doing? Is it some part of the test?' _He heard another noise then, this time coming from above with a rustling of leaves. He watched in shock as a wakizashi came hurtling towards him. The young prodigy was barely able to block it with his kunai, preventing a sword in his chest in the process."What the heck are you doing?" Sasuke yelled angrily at his blond teammate who responded only with a flurry of blade work that continued to drive him further into the forest. "We're supposed to be on the same team here you moron, not attacking each other!"

Kakashi felt himself moving shortly after he witnessed the explosion. His fears turned into reality as he witnessed Naruto strike at Sasuke. _'Damn it! I knew he was supposed to be dangerous, but I never anticipated that he would actually attack his teammates on their first exercise together! What in the world is going on here?'_

"Sasuke-kun! Hang on I'm coming!" Another voice cried out. Kakashi's fears deepened as he witnessed Sakura jumping into the fray to save her crush. Despite the kunoichi's assistance, a calm Naruto continued to fight back both of his teammates with minimal effort, forcing them backwards with merely his sword. Seeing that their current strategy was not working, Sasuke jumped back for a moment and began making hand signs.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" A stream of fire burst from Sasuke's mouth as it flew toward where his teammate was. Naruto then became a blur, dodging the blast which continued on to where Sakura was standing. The girl stood there frozen with surprise as the technique came flying towards her. Just as it was about to make contact however, Sakura felt herself being carried away by the arms of her sensei who had arrived in the nick of time.

After setting Sakura down, Kakashi quickly ran through several hand signs of his own. "Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu!" Naruto who was now on the ground, quickly found himself below it, his head being the only thing showing. Kakashi and his students then jumped down from the trees above to where their immobile teammate now was. "Well Naruto," Kakashi began in a stern voice. "I certainly hope that you—" The Copy Ninja found himself cut off as Naruto once again vanished in a puff of smoke. _'Another kage bunshin? How many of these did he have in place to begin with?' _

"Fūton: Shinkūha." A voice from the side whispered, interrupting Kakashi's thoughts. A blast of wind screamed between Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura. The technique tore through the ground they'd been standing on previously, creating a gap between the teacher and his students in the process. _'This shouldn't be possible!' _The Jonin told himself as he raced toward where the attack had originated. _'I thought I'd seen everything when Sasuke used fire style, but wind style? For him to have mastered such jutsu at his age, he must have set a new record for the village.'_ Jumping into a clearing, Kakashi found himself face to face with Naruto once again.

"Looks like I won't be reading Make-Out Paradise after all." He said to himself in an annoyed tone. The boy simply stared back at him and pulled out his wakizashi from it's sheathe. He then slashed at what appeared to be nothing, but the action didn't fool Kakashi for a moment. He jumped back and rolled on the ground as kunai began spraying out from the trees, aimed directly at where he had been. As he moved however, he felt his foot press into the ground into an area slightly deeper then the rest of it. A huge log then crashed down from above, crushing the Jonin into the dirt beneath him.

Naruto looked on, his expression slightly surprised at the event. "You know, you're not the only one who can use the kage bunshin no jutsu." A voice told him from behind. "I have to give you some credit though on your planning. You came here early this morning setting up traps in the forest to prepare for the test. To make sure nobody suspected you were missing, you sent a clone to take your place in the morning. But then came the problem, how to get me over here. Your solution: attack your teammates knowing that I would interfere if their lives were threatened. Does that about sum it up?"

Naruto responded by grabbing his sword and stabbing it through his chest to where Kakashi was standing. The Jonin swerved out of the blade's way as the clone was destroyed moments later. Kakashi sighed to himself. "Looks like the search begins anew. I'd better find the real him before this gets even more out of hand."

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were still recovering from what had happened. Both were breathing heavily and Sakura was struggling to get a grasp on the situation. _'What just happened here? Why did Naruto attack Sasuke-kun and how was he able to fight both of us off so easily?' _

Sasuke clenched his hand in a fist. "Damn it. Now I've lost the element of surprise. If I see that backstabber again he'd better watch his back." The Uchiha heir then began walking forward into the forest in the direction Kakashi and Naruto had gone.

"Sasuke-kun? Umm, where are you going?" Sakura asked after him in a nervous voice.

"I have to get one of those bells. I'm going after them." A dark look then came across Sasuke's face as he stood there as if recollecting some distant memory. "Only I can kill that man."

"What, you mean sensei?" Sakura questioned with surprise.

"I was crying at the time..."

"Crying...?"

"I am an avenger. I must become stronger than him. I don't have time to stand around here." With that remark Sasuke jumped on a tree and began leaping across the branches deep into the forest.

"Sasuke-kun wait!" Sakura yelled. _'What was that all about?' _She wondered to herself. "What am I even doing here? There's no way I'm going to be able to compete with those two." The girl berated herself in a depressed tone. "I might as well give up now and go home while my dignity is still intact."

"**Don't talk like that!" **Inner Sakura yelled back at her, **"This is our chance to win Sasuke-kun's love and prove what a catch we are! All we have to do is get the bell and beat up Naruto! After that he'll be ours!"**

"Shannaro!" Sakura roared in agreement, her confidence returning. "That bell is mine!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke sailed on through the area, scanning everything with his eyes. Then, to his surprise he spotted a familiar figure in the distance. Naruto stood on a branch with his back turned, a perfect target for anyone to take. With a small smirk, Sasuke pulled out some shuriken and with a quick flick of his hand threw them all at his unsuspecting teammate. To his shock however, Naruto did not dodge or move out of the way. Instead the projectiles all flew into his back as he fell to the earth to with a thud.

'_What?' _Sasuke thought to himself. _'That was way too easy. He didn't even bother to move. What's going on here?' _His answer came a moment later as the body on the ground transformed into a log. Jumping back, Sasuke stood with his back to the trunk of the tree he was on. _'Substitution huh? But where is the real one?'_ As he thought this, he suddenly found himself bound to the tree unable to move. Looking down, he saw that he was wrapped in wire preventing any movement. "Where are you Naruto?" He yelled angrily at nothing in particular. "Show yourself!"

"Oh, Sasuke." Another voice answered him. "You couldn't have made that any easier." Kakashi then appeared in front of him, his hands in his pockets. "I was looking for Naruto, but I saw you coming and I figured it would be good to get you out of the way now. Honestly though, I wasn't expecting that the Rookie of the Year would fall for such a simple trick."

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger as he struggled against the wires holding him. "I would advise you not to move that much." His teacher informed him. "That wire is made of steel and specifically designed and used by ninja to immobilize and capture opponents." Both then heard footsteps on the ground quickly approaching them. "Wonderful, it looks like we're going to be having even more company."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura ran quickly on the forest floor, pausing to hide briefly behind a tree trunk to conceal her presence. _'I'm sure Sasuke-kun went this way, but where did he go?' _Continuing on, Sakura walked out slowly doing her best to keep quiet and not alert anyone to where she was. Suddenly, leaves began swirling in circles all around her in many directions. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, the leaves vanished. "What happened?" Sakura said to herself. "Kakashi sensei, Sasuke-kun is that you?"

"Sakura," A voice from above moaned. "Help...me." Looking up, Sakura's eyes widened in horror at the sight laid out before her. Sasuke was pinned to a tree with several different ninja tools and weapons stuck in his body. Blood seeped from his wounds as her crush cried out in pain from his injuries. Tears came to Sakura's eyes as she felt her heart breaking into pieces.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

With a scream, Sakura collapsed to the ground unconscious. Looking up from his spot in the tree, Kakashi frowned underneath his mask. "Hmm," he said to Sasuke, still tied up with the wire. "Do you think I overdid it a bit? Still, she should've been able to figure out it was a genjutsu." Kakashi then took out an orange book from his pocket. _'Maybe now I'll have some time to—' _A sound from above caused the Jonin to propel himself from the branch he was on down to the earth below. Naruto's wakizashi thudded into the wood he'd been on seconds later.

As Kakashi continued to dive, he positioned himself so that he landed next to the log with Sasuke's kunai lodged in it. Pulling it out with one quick motion, he threw the weapon at Naruto just as he landed where the Jonin had been moments before. The young ninja moved his body to the side, but could not prevent the kunai from grazing his arm, creating a small gash in it.

"So, it _is_ the real you this time." Kakashi stated. "Do you mean to take me head on now? I can't say I advocate that option, but by all means give it your best shot."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto formed several hand signs. "Fūton: Shinkūgyoku!" Exhaling, he shot out several small blasts of wind which sped towards Kakashi with a blur. Grabbing the log, Kakashi hurled it in the direction of the attack, causing the oncoming missiles to intersect with it. The distraction gave the Jonin the moment he needed to dodge the remainder of the attacks and block the blonde ninja who had jumped after him following his jutsu. Naruto threw a kick at his head which Kakashi blocked by raising his arm, followed up by a punch which the Jonin stopped by grabbing his hand. Then, using his free arm, Naruto reached for the bells at Kakashi's waist, the small shiny objects within reach.

Just as he was about to take them however, Kakashi threw his head forward, sending the blonde ninja flying backwards with a headbutt. Then, an arm emerged from below the earth and with a swift yank, Naruto now found his head the only thing sticking out of the ground. Kakashi smiled, the kage bunshin he'd placed previously having successfully completed his task. "Well Naruto, it was a good try but in the end—" At that moment something whizzed past Kakashi's side and embedded itself in the tree behind him. Naruto's wakizashi stuck there, the bells hanging underneath as another figure landed next to it.

"I win." A kage bunshin stated as it pulled out the short sword and held the small dangling objects out for the Jonin to see. Kakashi looked on sighing to himself as what had happened dawned on him. _'So he had a kage bunshin in place the whole time as well. It's job was to lie in wait while the real one attacked and then retrieve the bells while I was distracted. When the moment was right, he threw the wakizashi and caught them on the end of the blade.' _Kakashi then thought back on everything he had witnessed from the Jinchuriki up until now._ 'He's definitely got his planning, jutsu, and combat skills down, but unless Naruto improves his teamwork in the next few hours, this squad is doomed to fail.'_

XXXXXXXXXX 

A short time later, all three students stood out on the training ground with their sensei standing in front of them. Sakura's head was bowed down in despair for her failure, while Sasuke was staring at Naruto with a dark look. Naruto kept his usual emotionless outlook, although there seemed to be a hint of smugness surrounding his persona. "Well," Kakashi began, "Out of the three of you, only Naruto was able to retrieve the bells. However, that does not mean any of you will be necessarily passing or failing this test." Sasuke and Sakura both looked up in surprise and a brief glimmer of shock even broke through Naruto's face for a moment. "The reason for this is because the point of the exercise was not to retrieve the bells. It was to demonstrate how well you functioned as team and worked together." The Jonin explained. "So far, you're all failing rather miserably."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura interrupted, a realization dawning on her. "There were only two bells to begin with so even if we had worked together, one of us would have still failed in the end! All that would do is create conflict in the group, not teamwork!"

"Of course it would." The Jonin agreed. "That was the whole point. The test tries to pit you against each other in order to see if you can overcome the challenges and put your teammates success above your own. None of you were able to figure that small detail out however."

"Sasuke," he said turning to the dark haired teenager. "You're supposed to be the Rookie of the Year, yet when you and Sakura were presented an opportunity to work together to retrieve the bells, you never even considered taking it." The Uchiha heir looked away in response.

"Sakura, you on the other hand were so obsessed with helping Sasuke that you couldn't even see through a simple genjutsu. If you'd been more attentive and paid attention to your surroundings then you might have noticed what was going on and been able to actually assist him for real."

The kunoichi looked down at the ground, her head hung low.

"And then we come to Naruto. Out of everyone here, you failed the worst. Though you were able to retrieve the bells, you chose to deliberately attack your teammates in the process and put them in harm's way. If a shinobi isn't able to work together with his comrades in the future, then he will find his career to be cut short very early on. Having been a ninja the longest of everyone here, I would have expected you to have learned this already." Naruto frowned with an almost angry look on his face as Kakashi finished. "You disagree with my assessment?" He questioned, noting Naruto's change in expression.

"You told me that I could do whatever I liked to retrieve the bells." Naruto reiterated to his sensei. "Completing a mission is more important than any one individual's life. If the other team members are not able or of any use to the mission, then they should be willing to sacrifice themselves to help it be a success."

"That's not true!" Sakura countered angrily, turning on Naruto. "We were taught in the academy that looking out for your teammates was the number one thing that a ninja should do in the field. We're not just tools to be used and thrown away!"

"We aren't useless either." Sasuke put into the argument. "I would never sacrifice myself just so some stupid mission would succeed."

An insulted look came across Naruto's face, followed by a dark, angry look that shook the two Genin to their core. "The mission and the village _always_ take priority above anything else. If you cannot understand that, then you are not fit or prepared to be shinobi."

"While there may be truth in that statement, teamwork is ultimately much more important." Kakashi stated, rebutting Naruto. "Why do you think we're training in groups? Konohagakure could not have been created if people of different skill sets and abilities had not come together and worked to create it despite their differences. Individual talents are important, but the combined abilities of a group surpass a single person easily."

Kakashi then turned and faced the large stone slab behind him. "In every mission you put your life on the line. This is a memorial stone built in honor of all the ninja who died in battle to keep the village safe. The names carved into this stone are praised as heroes by the village. My closest friends are also listed here." He told them in a solemn tone before moving to face them once more.

"Now, I'm willing to give you all one more chance at passing." Kakashi told his students. "Sasuke and Sakura will be able to eat lunch, but Naruto will not. Since he was the worst out of you three, he will be tied to the stump and given nothing. But if either of you chooses to feed him, you will all fail the test. Be prepared, it will be even tougher this time around."

A few minutes later, Naruto was tied up and Kakashi had left the training grounds leaving the three Genin alone together. Sasuke and Sakura ate their food anxiously, their bellies eager for nourishment after hours of nothing to satisfy them. Naruto simply stood at his position and said nothing, his eyes boring into the ground in front of him. A low mumble then came from his stomach, causing Sasuke to shift his eyes over to him.

"Here." Sakura looked over to see that Sasuke was handing his food over to Naruto in direct violation of Kakashi's orders.

"Sasuke-kun! Kakashi-sensei just said that—"

"Kakashi isn't here right now and it's going to take all three of us to pass this test. It will only be trouble if he's hungry." Sasuke told the kunoichi. Looking down at her own food, Sakura contemplated what her crush had just said. This boy had attacked and purposefully tried to injure them both, all for the sake of passing. Why should they even bother helping him after what he had done? But if they didn't start working as a team, they would all fail and be sent back to the academy...

"No, he can take mine instead." Sakura said with a smile, holding out her meal. A dumbfounded look had come over Naruto's face in the process of the events.

"Why would either of you wish to help me after I attacked both of you? If you are caught you will both fail and lose your chances as ninja." He reminded them in a solemn voice. "It would be better if you both conserved what you currently have and use it to bolster your own strength to improve your chances of—"The blonde was cut off then a Sakura stuck the food in his mouth.

"Oh just shut up and eat it already." Sakura told him in an annoyed voice. "If we're going to work together, then we have to put our differences behind us for the moment. Now hurry up and finish before Kakashi sensei comes back!"

Right on cue, a large cloud of smoke appeared on the training grounds in front of them. "YOU THREE!" Kakashi thundered as he emerged to confront his students. "You have broken the rules! Are you prepared for your punishment?" Dark clouds and lightning flashed as Kakashi began forming hand signs. "Any last words?"

"We're a three man team right?" Sasuke asked in an anxious voice as he turned to Naruto and Sakura.

"Ye-yeah!" Sakura stammered in response. "We three are one!"

Everyone seemed to focus in on Naruto at that moment, waiting for what his response would be. Time seemed to stand still as he gave his answer. "I guess...we are a team after all."

"Is that so?" Kakashi questioned in a stern voice. "Well then...you pass!" The storm clouds then faded at that moment as the sun came into view.

"We—we pass?" Sakura repeated in surprise.

"Yep, you three are the first. All the teams before you were just morons who listened to what I said and followed my orders." Kakashi explained to them. His voice then deepened. "A ninja needs to think outside of what is normal. In our world, those who break the rules are called scum. But those who don't take care of their friends, are worse than scum." A smile then emerged under his mask. "The test ends now. Everyone passes! Team 7 officially starts missions tomorrow!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

"So, despite everything they all managed to pass in the end." The Third said nodding. "It looks like we picked out a good team for you this time."

"It seems that way." Kakashi agreed, his face buried in his orange book.

"Must you really read that at this moment?"

"Of course, I planned on reading it during the test but never got the chance to, so I have to read it now to make up for lost time."

Hiruzen coughed violently then, his old age manifesting itself. After a moment, he continued speaking. "Continue your work with the three of them and keep your eye on Naruto. For now, we must continue to monitor him closely. The test did not go exactly as I had hoped it would, but I suppose it is a start for now. Dismissed!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: This chapter wasn't as long as I had hoped it would be, but I didn't want to get into the wave arc until next time. In the future I will be trying to make the chapters longer than their current length.

**Next Chapter: Mission to Wave**

_**Techniques**_

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu- Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique- A technique where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire, and expelled from the mouth in a massive orb of roaring flame. The scope of the attack is altered by controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered. The released flames will engulf their target, and leave a crater on the ground's surface.

Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu- Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique- A ninjutsu where the user conceals themselves underground and drags the object of their attack down into the earth, robbing them of their freedom. In addition, they can start another attack. This technique was originally used for torture, by cutting into the enemy's neck.

Fūton: Shinkūha- Wind Release: Vacuum Wave- The user takes a deep breath and spins while exhaling a large blade of wind so that it covers a wide range around the user. The resulting blast is large enough to slice through multiple targets, causing great or even fatal damage.

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Shadow Clone Technique- Similar to the Clone Technique, this jutsu creates clones of the user. Unlike the Clone Technique, these clones are actual copies, not illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing jutsu on their own and can even bleed, but will usually disperse after one or two solid blows. They can also disperse on their own. The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original.

Fūton: Shinkūgyoku- Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere- The user takes a deep breath and exhales several small blasts of wind chakra in a wide range, enough to make it difficult to avoid without taking damage. The blasts are also capable of piercing into an opponent's flesh, similar to bullets.


	4. Mission to Wave

**Demon of the Hidden Leaf**

A/N: Grrrr! I HATE the economy! Seriously, I've been looking for work for months now and I still can't manage to get a job! Even my local McDonalds isn't hiring right now and I'm pretty sure all the employees working there now are over thirty. Now, don't get me wrong I'm sure they're just working there to support their families and get through the week, but teenagers like myself need the money and job experience to help get through college and we can't do that without JOBS. The most annoying thing though is when politicians say things like "Oh, the economy is looking up!" because from where I'm standing it's looking the other way. The only good thing from this is that it gives me more time to work on my stories. But, enough ranting from me now.

InARealPickle: Okay, first of all how long did it take you to write that review? I appreciate the comments either way, but I feel I should take some time to go over some of the points you made.

-First off, you complained about how Naruto should've wiped the floor with Kakashi. Who's to say he couldn't have? You have no idea what this Naruto can do or what his intentions are and frankly if I had revealed all Naruto's abilities there would have been nothing left for later. Since you seem to have a grasp on basic writing, you should know one thing you DON't do is give away everything hidden at once.

-Hypocritical? I think not. Not everyone can be Kakashi and he was commenting on Naruto mastering wind element compared to the other users of that nature type that have been in the village before him.

-How didn't he take Naruto seriously? He didn't take out Make Out Paradise to begin with and how did I insult Kakashi's intelligence or Naruto's skill? He figured out almost immediately what Naruto's plan was and what he intended to do. The fact that Naruto managed to retrieve the bells from Kakashi is a testament to how strong he is.

-Rehabilitation? I don't believe Sai took any of that and he turned out rather well despite being in ROOT longer than Naruto would have been at this point.

-No teamwork? News flash, they didn't really show any teamwork in the real Naruto either. Sakura shoved food in his mouth then too, after which they all said they were a team to Kakashi and he passed them. It really wasn't that much different. Yes, he did _try _to kill them, but how do you know he couldn't have actually done it if he wanted to?

-Most importantly, I think you are overlooking one crucial fact about this Naruto. You pointed out that he's still operating under Danzo's final order which was to 'treat this like any other mission until Konoha comes back under their control.' Perhaps I could have been clearer on this, but killing your teammates or sensei the day after you're put on a team is not a good way to be stealthy or undercover. I just assumed everyone could figure that out.

- The avenger quote I actually just borrowed from the anime. I didn't change anything there. I'm trying to stay in step with the main storyline for now, so yes I am relying heavily on quotes from the anime and manga at the moment. Frankly, I always considered Sasuke to be somewhat sociopathic and creepy.

-It's obvious you have some problems with my writing style. That's perfectly fine and you are entitled to your opinion. You at least had the decency to list why you dislike my story instead of just saying "Your story is stupid" or whatever. However, if you are simply going to comment over and over again on how horrible of a writer I am and don't put any thought or feelings into my characters, I'm not going to even look at it because I already know what it will say. This story was originally meant to be a one-shot and the only reason I am continuing on with it is because I've received several positive comments which motivated me to take it farther.

A/N: Okay, I have an announcement for all you loyal readers out there. For the months of December and possibly part of January, I will be taking a break from my fanfics temporarily. The reason for this is because I've basically been writing non-stop for the past two months and really need a little bit of time to sit back and relax for while. Rest assured, I will return shortly afterwards and continue on with both my stories. I don't plan on abandoning them anytime soon.

'_thinking'_

**'Inner Sakura'**

REMEMBER TO REVIEW!

**Chapter 3: Mission to Wave**

"This is Sakura. I've arrived at point A."

"Okay Team 7, the target has moved. After it!"

Sakura moved quickly, jumping behind a nearby tree trunk to conceal her position. A few meters away, their objective was sitting in a clearing nearby, licking itself.

"What's the distance to the target?" Kakashi asked, requesting an update.

"Five meters. I'm ready to go." Sasuke answered him over the radios they were using.

"Me too." Sakura repeated.

"Affirmative." Naruto finished.

"Okay," Kakashi confirmed. "GO!" The three Genin jumped at their target, their hands outstretched to capture it. Just as Sakura touched it's fur however, the beast became a blur, zooming away from her grasp.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled to her teammate. "It's coming your way!"

"I've got it!" Sasuke quickly moved to stand in front of their quarry, his arms ready to catch it. But to his surprise, the target sped up once more and ran directly between the Uchiha's legs, darting towards some nearby bushes.

"Kakashi sensei, it's too fast!" Sakura informed her teacher in a frantic voice. "We can't keep up with it! It's going to—"

Just as the beast was about to make the leap to freedom, a fist crashed down from above, hitting it directly on the head. With just one attack, the target was now out of commission.

"I have the cat Kakashi-sensei." Naruto spoke into the communicator.

"Does it have a ribbon on it's right ear? Is it our target, Tora?" Kakashi inquired.

"Confirmed." Naruto answered, holding the small, now limp, creature by it's tail. "It is definitely the target."

"Then "Operation Capture Tora the Lost Pet" is now complete." Kakashi stated. "Good work Team 7. Time to return our little friend to it's owner."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ohh, my cute little Tora-chan!" An extremely obese woman wailed holding her pet. "You evil little boy! What did you do to my precious kitty?"

"We retrieved your pet as requested. You did not specify the condition in which you wished to have it returned, so we are not at fault here." Naruto told her bluntly.

"You murdered him!" She screamed back, all while crying all over herself. She then turned with an enraged look to Kakashi. "My husband will hear of this I can promise you that!" Then with a huff, the woman turned and walked off.

Kakashi sighed. "You know Naruto, it wouldn't kill you to be a little kinder to animals here and there. Now I'm going to get scolded by the Hokage for angering the feudal lord's wife."

"I am sorry sensei." Naruto apologized in his normal monotone voice.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Kakashi replied. "Let's just go and get our next mission." With that, the group headed over to the desk where the Hokage was sitting at, handing out missions.

"Finished already Kakashi?" The Third asked, to which the Jonin nodded. "Good, good. Now then, Kakashi's Team 7's next mission is babysitting Yojyu-sama's boy, grocery shopping at the neighboring town, helping dig up potatoes at..."

"Umm, Hokage-sama? Might I have a moment?" Kakashi asked politely.

"Of course." The old man said getting up from his desk, before turning to Iruka and the other ninjas he was sitting next to. "We'll just be a minute. Continue giving out the missions as planned."

"Yes Hokage-sama!" Everyone answered in unison.

With a few quick leaps, the two shinobi found themselves on the roof of the building alone. "Now, what is it you wanted to talk to me about Kakashi?"

"Well," Kakashi began. "The truth of the matter is that I would like a higher ranked mission for Team 7 to take."

"Oh? What brought this on?" The Third inquired. "From all your reports, Team 7 has successfully completed each D-ranked mission they've been given. Why then should we change that?"

"We've completed every mission, but none of them have done anything to help the teamwork of my squad. Sasuke and Sakura are still wary of Naruto and he has shown no interest in opening up to either of them at all." Kakashi explained to his leader. "You originally put Naruto on my team because you thought I could be able to help him in connecting with others. I can't do that if we're continually given these mediocre tasks. Naruto is used to far more dangerous missions and if you want him to begin working with his teammates, Sasuke and Sakura need something tougher in order to help prove themselves to him."

The Third closed his eyes, smoking on his pipe as he took the news. "It's not that I'm not aware of this Kakashi. My only concern has always been whether or not Sasuke and Sakura are up to the task." He told the Jonin. "Part of having a teammate with a much greater skill level requires a balancing out of training in order to help the others come along also."

"They're ready. I have confidence in both of them." Kakashi declared. "Also, as a side note for another reason, Naruto knocked out the feudal lord's wife's cat on our last mission. It might be better if we left for a while until the heat dies down, don't you think?"

"He knocked out that accursed feline eh?" Hiruzen repeated. "Hmph, I don't know whether or not I should be scolding him or presenting him with a medal. Very well, it just so happens we've received a C-rank mission recently that seems to fit your criteria. I'll deal with the feudal lord, just make sure your squad is ready."

"You've got it." Kakashi replied with a smile. "Trust me, you won't regret this Hokage-sama."

XXXXXXXXXX

A half hour later, Team 7 stood together outside the village gate to meet their next assignment. "Now remember everyone," Kakashi reminded his students, "this is going to be a C-ranked escort mission and potentially could take us a number of weeks at the most. Our escort is a bridge builder named Tazuna from the land of Waves. We've been hired to protect him while he travels to his country and finishes a bridge he's been working on there. He's a somewhat elderly gentleman, so let's all remember to show respect and courtesy on the trip okay?"

The students all nodded, understanding the instructions. Kakashi smiled in response. "Good. Oh look, here he comes now to meet us." The three young shinobi looked over to see a man with gray hair and a moustache carrying a sake bottle stumbling over to where they were.

"What?" The man hiccupped as he spoke, nearly falling over in the process. His face was bright red, obviously from spending a little too much time with the bottle. "There just a bunch of kids!"

'_This is our escort?' _Sakura thought to herself. _'He's just a drunk old man!'_

"Are they really capable of this mission?" Tazuna asked Kakashi, pointing at the group. "They look more like a couple of wet behind the ear brats to me!"

"Tazuna-san, I can assure you that they are more than qualified." The Jonin asssured him before turning back to his students. "Now why don't each of you introduce yourselves so we can get started with the mission."

"I am Sasuke Uchiha."

"My name is Sakura Haruno, pleased to meet you!"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"And I am Kakashi Hatake. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's be off shall we?" With that the group turned and left the safety of the village, unaware of the dangers that lay ahead.

XXXXXXXXXX

An hour passed by then with nothing but silence, except for Tazuna's occasional drunken rambles about how he deserved better than a bunch of kids for protection. Feeling bored, Sakura decided to pass the time by with a question.

"Hey, Tazuna-san you're from the Wave country right?" Sakura asked the bridge builder.

"Yeah, what about it?" Tazuna replied gruffly.

"Kakashi-sensei, are there also ninja in that country?" She asked in a curious voice.

"No, there are no ninja the Country of Wave." Her teacher answered. "But while the culture and customs of other countries may be different, hidden villages and ninja do exist. To the many countries that exist on land, the existence of ninja villages such as Konohagakure is the equivalent of that country's military power. In other words, that is how they are able to maintain the relationship with neighboring countries."

The Jonin explained further. "But the villages aren't under the control of that country. They are supposedly equal in position. On a small island such as the Wave Country, where it is difficult to be influenced by other nations, there is no need for ninja. The fire, water, lightning, earth, and wind countries occupy the most land on the continent and are therefore known as the Five Great Ninja Powers. They in turn are bolstered by their own respective villages which are controlled by the five kages who command the tens of thousands on ninja in the world."

"Wow, so Hokage-sama must be a really great man!" Sakura exclaimed, even though her inner self was thinking something entirely different. **"Is that old geezer really as Kakashi-sensei says? Sounds fishy to me…" **Another revelation then struck Sakura.

"So wait," Sakura said, stopping in her tracks. "If we're outside the village, then does that mean we could encounter enemy ninja from other villages?"

"It's possible," Kakashi answered, agreeing with his student's theory. "But unlikely. This is only a C-ranked mission, so it's doubtful that we would have any battles here."

"Then I guess there's no need to worry about that!" Sakura said with a smile.

"Of course not." Kakashi agreed with a chuckle. As they continued walking however, the Jonin noted something out of place on their path. A puddle lay out in the center of the road, even though it hadn't rained in weeks in this area. That could only mean one thing...

Sakura turned upon hearing a movement from behind. To her shock, she saw two grown men dressed in ninja attire charging towards them. Chains sprung out of the equipment they were carrying, binding Kakashi so that he could not move. "First one." She heard one of them speak. Then with a quick flick of the weapons, the young kunoichi watched in horror as her sensei was torn to pieces.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed out loud. Then she heard another noise and looked over to see that the two had now moved behind Naruto.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as they both moved to attack. To her surprise however, Naruto moved both his arms up back behind his head. His fists collided with both of their faces, sending them flying backwards. Then, the chain that was attached to their wrists was pinned to a tree with a shuriken. Sakura looked up to see Sasuke follow up his move with a kunai, embedding the weapon in the trunk and thereby making it useless. Seeing that, the two shinobi released the chain and zoomed over to attack where Tazuna and Sakura were standing. The young ninja jumped in front of her charge, holding out her kunai to defend herself.

"Stay behind me Tazuna-san!" She yelled to him. Sakura then closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable as one of the two reached out to strike.

Opening her eyes slowly, Sakura then looked up to realize she was still alive. Standing in front of her was Naruto, who was holding a bloodied wakizashi. Looking over, Sakura held her hand up to her mouth as she saw the shinobi who had previously been attacking her lying motionless on the ground, minus his head.

"You-you killed him." Sakura said trembling as her body shook all over.

"And with good reason." A familiar voice stated. The kunoichi then looked over to see her sensei alive and well, holding the other attacker limp in his arms. "Had Naruto not stopped him, you and Tazuna could have been seriously injured or worse."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed in a confused voice. "But how did you—" Looking over, Sakura saw a pile of cut up logs where Kakashi had been standing. _'So he used the replacement technique. But how did he know to prepare beforehand?'_

"Anyway, good teamwork Naruto and Sasuke." Kakashi congratulated the boys. "I would advise you to keep your eyes open in the future however Sakura. It's not a very good tactic to close your eyes when your opponent is about to attack."

"Ye-yes sensei. I'll do better in the future, I promise." Sakura told her teacher looking down at the ground shamefully.

"Good, that's all I ask. By the way Tazuna-san..." Kakashi said turning to the bridge builder.

"W-what is it?" Tazuna stammered in response.

"We need to talk. Naruto, tie this one up and make sure he can't get away. I think we'd all like to have a little chat with him as well."

A few minutes later, their captive was bound and unable to move. "These guys are Chuunin class ninja from the Kirigakure." Kakashi told everyone. "They are shinobi that are known to keep fighting no matter what the cost."

"How were you able to detect our actions?" The mist ninja snarled fiercely.

"It hasn't rained in the past few days and it's sunny today, so a puddle of water shouldn't exist. It wasn't that hard to figure out." Kakashi explained to him.

"Why did you let the kids fight when you knew that?" Tazuna questioned in a disapproving voice.

"If it was up to it, I could've killed both of them in the blink of an eye. However, it was more important that we figure out who the target was and what they were after." Kakashi said, giving Tazuna a stern look. "That's why Naruto only killed that one who attacked you and not the other as well."

Upon hearing this, Sasuke looked over to where Naruto was, focusing in on the blond ninja. _'He never attended the academy, was both smart and strong enough to steal bells from a Jonin, and can kill Chuunin level shinobi with ease. Just who is this guy?'_

"Hmm, what are you getting at?" Tazuna asked Kakashi trying to sound tough.

"In other words, were you being targeted, or was it someone from our team? We hadn't heard anything about you being targeted by ninja."

Kakashi reminded the old man of his mission description. "Your request was to be protected from armed groups such as gangs and robbers. As of now, this mission would be classed around a B-rank. Our job was to support and protect you until you completed your bridge. If we knew we would be facing enemy ninja we would have charged differently and put the mission cost at a higher price. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is unacceptable. This wasn't part of the mission.

"We're Genin, this mission is way out of our league." Sakura put in. "We should head back to the village."

"I agree." Naruto spoke up, surprising everyone as he had not made a comment before this on the mission. "As of now, this mission is out of our jurisdiction. There is no reason for us to progress any further than this."

"True," Kakashi nodded his head. "However, as the team leader it falls to me to decide whether or not we should continue. For now, we will continue to escort Tazuna back to his home. Since he's already paid us, it would be courteous to at least see him back to his family."

"Thank you!" Tazuna said gratefully. "If you could do just that, I would be forever in your debt."

"Well, we'd better get moving again then. I'd like to get to the crossing before dark."

As the group once again began traveling, Sakura walked up alongside Naruto. "Umm, Naruto? Thank you for saving me back there. I really appreciated it." The kunoichi said, trying to sound sincere.

"We are even now." Naruto told her bluntly.

"What? What are you talking about?" Sakura asked him perplexed.

"When you gave me part of your lunch on the day we met, you said I could pay you back later. Now, the debt is settled." With those remarks, Naruto continued on walking leaving a still puzzled Sakura behind.

'_He did all that just because I gave him my lunch? What is with this guy? I can't figure him out at all.' _

"Sakura," Kakashi yelled out to her. Sakura then realized that while lost in her thoughts she had stopped moving. "Come on, don't get left behind now."

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei! I'm coming!"

XXXXXXXXXX

A couple hours later, the team was now on a boat heading for the Wave Country pier. Thick mist swirled all around them, making it almost impossible to see anything clearly.

"We should be able to see the bridge soon." Their navigator told them. "If we move along the side of the bridge, we will then arrive in Wave Country."

As they continued traveling along the water, the man's prediction came true as a large object came into view. A huge half finished bridge came into sight, dwarfing everything else around it.

"Wow, it's gigantic!" Sakura exclaimed out loud.

"Shh!" The navigator told her. "You have to be quiet! We're using this boat to hide in the mist. That's why I'm rowing instead of using the engine. If we get caught we'll be in trouble."

"Tazuna-san, before we get to the pier, I have to ask you something." Kakashi said quietly. "Who are the ones chasing after you and what is their reason for doing so? If you choose not to tell us, this mission can end once you reach the shore."

Tazuna sighed deeply. "It looks like I'm going to have to tell you the real story. I mean, I would like to tell you the real story. As you said, this mission is most likely outside of your job description. An evil man is after my life."

"An evil man?" Kakashi repeated. "Who is it?"

"You should all have at least heard of his name, Marine transportation billionare Gato." The old man told them with a hint of disgust in his voice.

A shocked look came over the Jonin's face. "Gato? As in the Gato from the Gato Company? He's one of the richest men in the world."

"Yes," Tazuna nodded. "He is the president of the Marine Transportion company on the outside, but underground uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. He also does jobs such as takeovers of other countries and companies."

The bridge builder then looked back as if reminiscing past events. "A year ago, he set his sights on our little country. He entered using wealth and violence as his shield and he quickly took over the island's sea traffic and transportation. On an island like ours, controlling the sea means controlling the wealth, politics, and people of this island. But the one thing Goto is afraid of is the completion of this bridge."

"I see. So your building the bridge must've made you become a major obstacle to him." Sakura concluded.

"And then there were those ninjas sent by Goto." Sasuke said, connecting the two events.

"I still don't understand one thing. If a dangerous man like Gato uses ninjas, why didn't you tell us that in the first place?" Kakashi interjected.

"Out country is a poor one. Even the feudal lord doesn't have that much money." Tazuna told him sadly. "We don't have the money for a B-rank or above mission. If you do quit after we land, there's a good chance I'll be killed. But there's no need to blame yourselves."

A sob then came from the man. "Of course, my cute little grandson will keep crying and crying "Where's my granddad? I want my granddad!" and my daughter will also hold a grudge against Konoha ninja and live a lonely life. But it's not your fault, don't worry."

Kakashi then pondered this for a moment before speaking. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. We'll continue escorting you."

"Oh thank you again. I'm eternally indebted twice over now to you all." The man said gratefully, although anyone looking closely could see a mischievous smirk on his face.

"We're almost there." The navigator told them as land came into sight. Soon, they were all safely back on dry ground and on their way to escort Tazuna to his house. Along the way, Kakashi contemplated everything he'd learned so far. _'If they attack again, they will be sending Jonin level ninja instead of Chuunin. Oh well...'_

As he contemplated this thought, the Jonin suddenly heard a noise coming at them from behind. "Everybody get down!" He yelled out. The group all hit the ground just in time to avoid getting bisected by a large spinning blade that came flying at them from above. The sword imbedded itself in a nearby tree and a man appeared on top of it a moment later.

"Well, well if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, missing-nin from Kirigakure." Kakashi said introducing him to everyone else. "Everyone stay back. This guy is in a completely different league from those other ninjas we faced earlier." The Jonin then lifted his hand to his forehead protector. "If he's our opponent then I'm going to need this."

"Kakashi o,f the sharingan. Isn't that right?" Zabuza asked in a voice that could kill by itself. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to hand over the old man."

"All of you, defensive formation now! Protect the bridge builder and at all costs stay out of this fight!" Kakashi ordered his students in a commanding voice. "I've taught you teamwork, now it's time to test what you've learned." Then with a quick movement of his hand, he moved his headband onto his forehead, revealing his left eye. "I'm ready."

"Well, looks like I'll get the privelage of seeing the sharingan in action. I'm honored." Zabuza stated as a thick mist began rolling in. "When I was in the Kiri ANBU Black Ops, we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. Your information was listed in our bingo book. The man who's copied over a thousand jutsu, Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja."

'_What? Is Kakashi-sensei really that famous of a ninja?' _Sakura wondered to herself. He hadn't seemed that impressive so far...

'_I don't understand this. The sharingan is a rare bloodline limit that only occurs within members of the Uchiha clan.' _Sasuke thought as he contemplated how this was possible. _'Could he be...?'_

Naruto simply stared up to where Zabuza was standing as if all of this was past knowledge he'd known about his entire life.

Zabuza yanked his sword out of the wood. "Enough chit-chat. I have to exterminate that old man." Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura quickly moved to defend Tazuna while Kakashi stepped forward to face Zabuza. "So I'm going to have to take care of you first, eh Kakashi?" The missing-nin then jumped from his spot in the tree onto a nearby lake and began forming handsigns.

'_He's building up a huge amount of chakra.' _Kakashi surmised from his actions. Water began rising around the shinobi, surrounding his body as it swirled around in a circular motion.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu." Zabuza stated quietly as mist covered him completely, shielding him from his opponents eye.

"He vanished!" Sakura stated as Kakashi moved further toward the mist. "Sensei, where are you going?"

"He'll come after me first." Kakashi answered in a humorless tone.

"But who is this guy exactly?" Sasuke asked seriously.

"Zabuza Momochi. He was a member of the Kirigakure ANBU and was world renowned for his mastery of the silent killing technique." Kakashi answered him.

"Si-silent killing technique?" Sakura repeated sounding scared.

"As the name suggests, it's a killing technique that's executed in a flash and carried out in complete silence. It's possible for you to be dead before you even realize it." Kakashi informed his students. "I can't use my sharingan to it's fullest potential here, so don't let your guard down."

Sakura gulped in response as the mist began surrounding them all, making it difficult to see anything. Soon Kakashi had vanished completely from their sight. "Sensei!" Sakura yelled out, only to be greeted with no reply. The three young ninja were all alone now.

"Eight points."

"What was that?" Sasuke asked searching around for the source of the noise.

"The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, and heart. Now, which vital organ to attack?" Suddenly, the mist surrounding the Genin was blown away. Sasuke looked up to see Kakashi gathering his chakras around him.

'_I feel like I can't breath. One shallow breath, one tiny movement of the eye is enough to draw his attack. It's suffocating! If it goes on like this I'll go insane! _Sasuke thought to himself as he struggled to maintain his composure. _'The wait before two Jonin clash. I've never felt anything so chilling. It's as if my own life is being choked off! I can't take it! I have to—'_

"Sasuke!" Kakashi called out, breaking the Genin's state of mind. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life. All of you. I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me." The Jonin looked back with a smile underneath his mask.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." A voice said behind Sasuke. The Uchiha could only pause in horror as he realized that Zabuza was standing right behind him in front of the bridge builder. "It's over."

As the missing-nin moved his sword to attack however, he found the movement blocked, but not by Kakashi. To his surprise, the blond ninja was blocking his decapitating knife with a small wakizashi half his size. _'What the—how did—?' _The shinobi did not have any time to think as he found himself stabbed through the chest by a kunai, courtesy of Kakashi. The man then exploded in a burst of water that fell to the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei look out!" Sakura screamed as she spotted the real Zabuza coming from behind her teacher. With a sweep of his huge sword, the Jonin was promptly cut in half. To the Kiri ninja's surprise however, he also exploded into a pool of water. _'A mizu bunshin? But how did he copy it in the mist?'_

"Don't move." A voice said from behind him as a kunai was held to his throat. "Now it's over."

Zabuza chuckled. "Do you really think you can beat me with your cheap imitations? You're pretty good, I'll give you that. But I'm not that easy to defeat."

Suddenly, another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. _'Damn it!' _The Jonin realized. _'He had another clone in place the entire time as well!' _A kick from the Mist Demon to his gut sent the Copy Ninja flying away into the lake. Kakashi swam to the top, noticing as he moved that the water felt unusually heavy.

"Idiot. I can't believe you actually fell for this trick." His opponent said from behind as he came up gasping for breath. "Suirō no Jutsu!" Kakashi suddenly found himself entrapped in a barrier of water, unable to fight or move. "It was a mistake to fight me near the water, now that old man is all mine. But first I better take care of your little friends."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Zabuza. Frankly, I would say this jutsu here is going to be your undoing." Kakashi told him calmly.

"Hmph, empty bravado. If you think any of those brats are capable of stopping me, you're sadly mistaken." Zabuza sneered at his captive. At the same time though, he remembered the blond ninja from earlier. _'I don't know how, but somehow that kid was able to block my attack. It had to have been a fluke, there's no way a Konoha Genin could have stopped my attack.'_

Summoning another mizu bunshin, the assassin set his sights on his new targets standing across from him. "You three might think wearing that headband makes you a ninja, but when you've hovered between life and death as many times as I have, then you might finally be worthy of that title." The clone began making hand signs. Mist once more swirled around the area. "When you've become so deadly you're profile is entered into my bingo book, then you may be a ninja. But to call upstarts like _you_ ninja is a joke!"

Sakura felt herself trembling in fear. Her teacher was gone and now there was nothing standing in between them and the man just a few feet away. _'What do we do now?' _Sakura wondered, looking to her teammates for any support. There wasn't any time to talk however, because a second later, their enemy was in their mist. The missing-nin attacked Sasuke first, sending the Uchiha flying backwards with a quick kick from his powerful legs. The Genin landed on his feet and launched a punch at the clone. The boy smiled when his attack made impact, only to find that it wasn't dispersing after the contact.

"Is that really all you've got kid? Pathetic." His fist came flying down, flooring Sasuke to the ground while rendering him helpless and immobile in the process.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out as the man prepared to finish her crush off.

"It's over brat!" Sasuke watched in horror as he felt his body become stiff and unable to move once more as the huge blade came flying toward his head. _'This can't be how it ends! I'm still weak! I haven't avenged my clan yet! I haven't killed—' _

The Kiri ninja suddenly exploded in a pool of water, leaving Sasuke soaking wet. Looking up, he realized Naruto was now standing where the mizu bunshin had been moments before.

"Sasuke," Naruto stated calmly. "Guard the bridge builder with Sakura. I will deal with Zabuza alone." With that remark, Naruto began walking over towards where the two Jonin were.

Zabuza had watched the events happen in complete disbelief. _'Again? This shouldn't be possible! How could he be strong enough to stop one of my bunshin?' _A sinister grin then spread across the man's face. "Well, well it looks like one of your students isn't completely worthless after all Kakashi. But how will he handle the elimination round?" The missing-nin quickly went through another set of hand signs, causing several more forms to rise from the water. Soon, he was surrounded by ten mizu bunshin, all bent on destroying a single target.

"Kill him." The doppelgangers charged forward, lifting their swords to strike at the boy. As two of them held back their swords to generate power into their swings however, the boy effortlessly dispatched them with a quick slash of his wakizashi, destroying both at once. Another jumped at him from behind, hoping to strike his blind spot, only for the blond to sidestep out of the attacks path and send the clone crashing into another one attacking from the front.

Standing on the sidelines, Sakura and Sasuke watched in amazement as Naruto wiped out Zabuza's bunshin one by one. "He-he's actually winning! He's winning Sasuke! Isn't that great?" She looked over to see a mixed expression on her teammates face, as if torn between relief and anger.

'_Am-am I really that much weaker than he is? He can effortlessly destroy ten of those things while I can't even defeat one?' _Sasuke clenched his fist tightly. _'No! I have to get stronger than him. I have to become better than anyone else!'_

With a final slash of his sword, Naruto sheathed his blade as the last mizu bunshin was destroyed. Zabuza still couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. _'I could accept a Genin being able to block my sword or even being able to destroy my bunshin. But ten of them? There's no way this kid is a Genin. His skill level is far beyond that.'_

"I'll admit that was pretty impressive kid." Zabuza called out over the lake. "Tell me, what's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

'_Naruto Uzumaki?' _Zabuza repeated in his mind. _'Never heard of him.' _The missing-nin gazed closely at his young opponent, observing his features and appearance. Spiky blond hair, emotionless blue eyes, a strange looking uniform, and whisker marks on his cheeks. Zabuza immediately went through the list in his head of all the individuals listed in his bingo book to see if any matched that description. Soon, he came to one that fit the bill, one that he would never have expected to meet at this place.

"I don't believe it." Zabuza laughed to himself. "In all my wildest dreams, I would never have expected to meet both the Copy Ninja and my counterpart as well."

'_Counterpart?' _Sakura questioned to herself. _'Does he mean Naruto?'_

"I'm right aren't I?" Zabuza asked. "You are the Demon of the Hidden Leaf, aren't you Naruto Uzumaki?"

A silence greeted the question before the answer came.

"Yes, I am."

"No way." Sasuke said out loud in disbelief. "He's the—"

"But-but that can't be right, Naruto is our age." Sakura said in disbelief as her dream picture of the legendary figure was shattered. "The Demon is supposed to be six feet tall and probably around Kakashi sensei's age."

"Please, rumors always follow those who make great names for themselves." Zabuza ridiculed the two. "Over time they are twisted and exploited until they become gross misinterpretation of who they really are. A wise shinobi will use this to their advantage so no one will be prepared when they finally reveal themselves. I've lived this long because I stay informed about my enemies and don't fall for cheap tricks like that."

"Then if you know who I am, surrender now while you still have a chance." Naruto warned him.

"Sorry kid, but I'm not the type to go down without a fight. Asking me to surrender is pointless so don't even bother with it." Zabuza then sensed a presence behind him.

"Then you will die." A kage bunshin swung it's sword at Zabuza's exposed back. With no other option, the missing-nin withdrew his hand from Kakashi's water prison causing it to collapse in the process. The Kiri ninja then ducked out of the way of the oncoming sword, leaping back on land to a safer position.

"Good work Naruto." Kakashi told Naruto. "I'll take care of the rest."

'_This isn't good.' _Zabuza thought to himself. _'I came here anticipating only to fight Kakashi. I never expected that I would have another strong opponent to contend with. Time to retreat.' _With a quick motion of his hands, unseen by everyone except for another individual hidden in the trees, Zabuza collapsed to the ground within moments.

"Who's there?" Kakashi called out upon seeing Zabuza fall. Jumping out from the trees emerged a young man wearing the mask of the Kiri ANBU.

"How ironic. In the end he did die. I thank you both for distracting Zabuza for me. It gave me the perfect opportunity to attack." The man stated, looking down to the limp body on the ground. Kakashi jumped over to check his pulse. Nothing. "I've been tracking him for some time. You've helped to remove a great threat to Kirigakure."

"I'm assuming you're a hunter-nin from Kirigakure then?" Kakashi questioned him.

"Correct. I was assigned to track down Zabuza and bring him back to the village dead or alive." The boy answered. He then placed Zabuza's body over his shoulder. "If you would excuse me now, I would like to go and dispose of his corpse. It has several secrets which we cannot allow to fall into enemy hands." Then with a blur, the boy was gone.

"Well, that takes care of one problem then." Kakashi said turning to Naruto who was now besided him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" A voice called out. The Jonin looked over to see the rest of his team and Tazuna heading over to their position. "Who was that boy and what did he do with Zabuza?"

"He was a Kiri hunter-nin that had been assigned to bring Zabuza in. He left to dispose of his body." Kakashi informed her.

"So he's dead then eh?" Tazuna said happily. "Good, now I'll be able to work on the bridge without having to worry about him anymore."

Kakashi glanced over to Sasuke who had remained quiet. His teeth were locked together as he stared at the ground in a silent anger. _'It must be hard for him. First he had to witness how much stronger Naruto was and discovered who he really is. Now he's just seen that hunter-nin take out Zabuza with ease. Sooner or later he'd have to realize that there are stronger ninja than him at his age. Maybe it's better that it happens now rather than later._

"Sensei are you all right?" Sakura asked in a concerned voice. Kakashi then realized he was breathing extremely heavily from having his sharingan on for so long.

"Don't worry. I'm fine." The Jonin replied cheerfully as he put his forehead protector back over his eye. "Using my sharingan just takes a lot out of me. Now, let's hurry and get Tazuna back to his house."

XXXXXXXXXX 

After traveling a considerable distance away from the Konoha group's location, the Kiri ninja stopped and place Zabuza's body on the ground. "Well, we'd better get you up and moving again shouldn't we Zabuza-san?" As he moved to take off the bandages covering his mouth, a hand suddenly grabbed his.

"I can take care of myself." The man sat up, uncovering his bandages and yanking out the senbon in his neck.

"Zabuza-san you shouldn't take those out too quickly. You'll die for real." The boy cautioned him.

"It would take more than these toys to kill me Haku." Zabuza told him as he pulled out the last one. He then tried to move, only to find that his limbs wouldn't respond to his commands. "What's my status?"

"You'll be unable to move for about a week give or take. After that you'll be fit and ready to go." Haku informed his teacher with a smile.

"Excellent. In the mean time, prepare everything in you're arsenal for battle. Kakashi's mine, but I'm leaving it to you to take care of the Demon."

"Don't worry Zabuza-san. I've never let you down before now have I?"

"That's what I'm counting on."

XXXXXXXXXX

**Next Chapter: Battle on the Bridge**

_**Techniques**_

Kirigakure no Jutsu - This displacement technique is a specialty of the Ninja from Kirigakure, where one causes a mist to spring forth by lifting up some water, then goes in and out of sight at will from within the pearly-white realm. The mist's thickness is controlled by the amount of chakra kneaded into it.

Silent Killing Technique - This technique is simply a very quiet method of killing an opponent, usually from behind with a blade. Additionally, because the user is very silent, it cannot be defended against.

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu – Jutsu similar to kage no bunshin except it creates clones out of water with 1/10th of the original person's power.

Suirō no Jutsu - This jutsu is used to trap a victim inside a virtually inescapable sphere of water. The only downside to this technique is that the user must keep at least one arm inside the sphere at all times in order for the victim to remain imprisoned.


End file.
